A Baby Boomer's musings on art, family history, reading and finding a little beauty each day.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Like a Chicken With My Head Cut Off... Old Photos, Etc.

Gene and Ralph Pierce, about 1931

I suppose my title today doesn't really go with these charming 1931 photos. They are of my Uncle Gene, and his little brother, my father Ralph. I called Gene recently because one of his school friends died, and I wanted to be sure he heard. Plus I wanted to ask him more questions about the farm where both his family and mine lived. I learned, among other things, that his mother and father, my grandparents, had telephone service before they had electricity. They got electricity in 1936. Imagine. I only asked because I was looking at old photos of the farmhouse and noticed that in the ones where he and Dad were little there were no electrical lines leading into the house. I wish he lived a little closer so I could talk to him more easily and more often. He is in his eighties, so I feel compelled to encourage him to tell me as much as he can about growing up. He loaned me these on the condition I return them to him. I cannot say how excited I was to see these pictures for the first time.

Actually, getting these treasures, and my recent trip to the Northwest, sent me to writing elder cousins in Washington about my grandparents on the other side of the family. I've been sending email pictures and comments to historical societies in Spokane and Franklin counties too. Luckily for me, people have written back and little by little my information about that branch of the family tree is increasing.

Other than that I am taking a colored pencil class this week in Lake Geneva with a charming and generous teacher named Kristy Kutch. I drive there and back each day, which would normally take 35 minutes, but currently is taking an hour each way because of road construction. By the time I made it home tonight I was as tired as I have been in months. We'll see how much I get accomplished by the time the class is over on Thursday afternoon.

2 comments:

I love those photos, especially the baggy, baggy overalls. How fun to take a workshop with Kristy Kutch. I'm a fan of her work. (Regarding your insomnia comment, my hairdresser tells me many of her over 50 clients complain of sleep problems as they age...)

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About Me

Raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm, for many years I taught in the Janesville public schools; retiring in 2006. These days I have the time I've always wanted to paint, to read, to travel and to research local history. Life is good!